A veteran Nollywood actor, Baba Suwe, whose original name is Babatunde Omidina, has finally returned to Nigeria, many weeks after he had to be flown out for proper medical treatment in the United States of America.
At the time, the comic artist’s movement was aided with the use of a wheelchair as he could barely walk on his own.
At a point, there were rumors that he had given up the ghost at the Rhodes Island hospital where he was taken to. But his colleagues quickly denounced the rumor with pictures to prove that he was indeed recuperating.
Baba Suwe, in a show of appreciation, swiftly visited one of his prominent benefactors – a Prophetess, known as Iya Adura.
He was accompanied by his son, Shola, and his younger brother, Adeboyega.
The cleric reportedly gave Baba Suwe the sum of N10, 000, 000, after his colleagues publicized his illness and the need to raise funds for his treatment overseas.
All a user has to do is to “swipe” the police-VGS app on his mobile phone when a crime, fire, medical emergency or natural disaster occur. The “policemen would then be alerted immediately and help would be sent your way promptly”.
The app would be available on IOS and Google play store.
Reactions to the app
Some Nigerians however have been visiting the Google play store for the app which has not been released yet.
One Nigerian who gave his name as Peter Osagie said he downloaded a similar security app called Smart Police while he was searching for the Police-VGS app.
“It is only in this country that you advertised what is not there. After referring people to so-called app, it could not be found,” said another Nigerian, Ibrahim Yunusa, who stumbled on the Smart Police app, while also searching for the Police-VGS app.
“The Nigeria Police has devised this app to smartly combat crimes in the country.
“It will soon be formally launched by the IGP and thereafter made available for public use,” the police said on Twitter, using its official handle @PoliceNG.
A lucky church member has revealed how he escaped from a ritualist den where his pastor had lured him to in Osun state.
The man, Sola Adebayo, who claimed to have been close to the pastor, Emmanuel Ogedengbe, explained that he told him they were going to a prayer mountain in Oshogbo area of Osun State.
Although Ogedengbe’s church, the Cherubim and Seraphim Church, was situated in Ibadan, Adebayo agreed to accompany him on the journey because of the respect he had for him.
How it happened
After driving him in his car to Oshogbo, Adeboye explained how the pastor took him to a herbalist abode instead, claiming they were his associates.
Luckily, he was able to sense danger when his pastor did not return many hours after he was taken out of the room.
Adeboye had to pretend he needed to fuel his car in a bid to escape.
While narrating his ordeal to policemen he contacted after his scary experience, he said, “When he (Pastor Ogedengbe) told me to follow him to Osogbo for prayers, I couldn’t turn him down because he was someone I respected so much. But when we got to Osogbo, he changed the story and when I was extremely inquisitive, he said where we were going was a town before Ikirun”, Adebayo narrated.
“It was when we got to Oba-Ile that I realized we had come to a herbalist’s house and I immediately asked him what we were doing there.
“I was told that our hosts were his friends and that they had been friends for about eight years.
“Minutes later, I was told to wait and our hosts left with Pastor Ogedengbe and it was when I started calling his telephone number without response that I started having a second thought. “But about an hour later, the oldest among our hosts-turned-ritualists came back and asked me to follow him.
“They had asked me immediately we got to the house to eat some concoction which I refused to eat.
“Now when this old man asked me to follow him alongside one hefty guy to where the pastor was, I asked about pastor’s whereabouts. The old man simply told me that he was fine and that he was praying at the holy ground.
“All along, I felt something fishy was going on and, when we got to a place inside the bush, I asked for my car keys which they had earlier taken from me, pretending that I wanted to pick something from the car.
“But to my surprise, the old man refused to give me the keys.
“It was after some minutes of argument that he released the keys and asked this stern looking guy to follow me.
Escape Plan
“Once we got to the car, I requested the gang member who followed me, to follow me to a filling station to buy fuel into the car since we will be traveling late in the night. And it was from the filling station that I escaped.
“I was chased on three motorcycles till I got to Osogbo-Ikirun expressway before they went back and I rushed to the nearest police station”.
The suspects were subsequently nabbed after the tip off while Pastor Ogedengbe’s dismembered body parts were found in their possession.
Anthony Joshua has been beaten by challenger Mexican fighter Andy Ruiz Jr in one of the biggest shocks in heavyweight boxing history.
The confident Anthony Joshua has lost all his heavyweight titles after being stopped in the seventh round at Madison Square Garden in New York.
He got knocked down twice in the third round, in what was believed to be most damaging round of his career. He spent much of rounds four to six recovering.
Ruiz floored him two more times in the seventh round returning to his feet, referee Mike Griffin stepped in to bring the clash to an end.
This was the first time the former champion tasted defeat, leaving his underdog opponent to become the first ever Mexican-American heavyweight world champion.
Andy Ruiz Jr, who Joshua managed to knock down once in the third round said he could not believe realizing his dream come true.
Anthony Joshua told Sky Sports Box Office: “Boxing is a tough sport, but I train hard and I got beaten by a good fighter, it will be interesting to see how far he goes, but this is all part of the journey.
“This is the risk we take, every fighter deserves respect so congratulations to him. I respect every fighter, this is all part of the legacy, it’s how strong I came back. He’s a champion for now, I shall return.”Joshua had beaten 22 opponents without defeat before his Saturday night fight against Ruiz, and apologized to his fans who had bought tickets for the match.
“Sorry I let my fans down,” he said.
Promoter Eddie Hearn said a rematch between the pair would likely be arranged for later in the year.
He said: “He will come back. It’s now down to the rematch and winning that fight. He must win that fight and he will do anything he can to regain his title. To get back to the heights he has been, he must win that rematch.”
Anthony Joshua, previously undefeated, was defending his IBF, WBA and WBO titles but was knocked down four times before underdog Ruiz was awarded a technical knockout.
Boxing fans around the world have wanted Anthony Joshua to fight in the United States.
Well, the moment has come as Joshua (22-0, 21 KOs) make his U.S. debut on Saturday night, when he defends his IBF, WBA (Super) and WBO heavyweight titles against former championship challenger Andy Ruiz Jr. at Madison Square Garden in New York City, live and exclusively on DAZN.
After Joshua notched a seventh-round TKO over Alexander Povetkin last September, he hoped to face WBC titleholder Deontay Wilder on April 13 at Wembley Stadium to determine an undisputed heavyweight champion. But Wilder, who fought to a thrilling split draw with Tyson Fury in December, decided to go in a different direction, as he faced Dominic Breazeale on May 18 and notched a first-round knockout.
So, Joshua agreed to take on Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller. But Miller was denied a boxing license by the state of New York in April after failing a drug test and two subsequent tests. With Joshua in need of an opponent, Ruiz stepped up to the plate.
Ruiz (32-1, 21 KOs) enters the bout coming off of making Alexander Dimitrenko quit on his stool between the fifth and sixth round on April 20. The only blemish on the 29-year-old fighter’s resume is a December 2016 majority decision loss to then-WBO titleholder Joseph Parker, although some boxing pundits felt like Ruiz did enough to win that fight.
Can Ruiz shock the world and pull off the monumental upset? Or does Joshua stay focused on the task at hand and garner another win to keep hopes of an undisputed heavyweight title fight alive?
(All times Eastern.)
Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz Jr. live updates, results
Kidnapping ordeal of a family visiting Nigeria in the hands bandits along Akure-Ilesha road. This piece is published unedited as copied:-
Horror in the kidnappers’ den
It took me a long time of reflections to put this piece together. First, let me thank my husband for the emotional support, the counselling and for his belief in the creator of heaven and earth which we call God or Allah.
The journey began in Auchi. We had travelled to Akure on a Monday, stayed with my husband’s relations in the outskirt of this ancient town. In the evening of Monday, we visited the palace for dinner, my husband being a close friend to son of the King.
On Tuesday, we left for Ibadan, via the Akure-Ilesa road. Our plan was that after attending the wedding in Auchi, we would travel with (my husband) to Lagos, stay for few weeks before returning abroad where I had lived with my husband and children for more than a decade. We were in the car of a close family friend, an accountant who gave his time and energy for our comfort.
We were five in the car, myself, my husband, our daughter, a lady who is my husband’s niece who had joined us in Akure with the hope of travelling with us to Lagos.
The driver accountant maintained a normal speed. He drove professionally. That gave me a lot of comfort and I felt I could find time to sleep a bit. My daughter was next to me, just 9. She was coming to Nigeria with me for the second time.
Shortly after the Ijare junction, the driver felt the wagon’s tires ruptured and decided to pack the car with the hope of changing the tires.
It was like a film. In a jiffy, motley crowd of armed men in military uniform came out of the bush. They fired at the boot of the car. Ahead of us, five of them came out of the bush, another two came from the rear. My daughter screamed: “Mummy, daddy, what’s going on”. There was no time to say a word. They marched us through into the bush, firing into the sky. They hit me on my chest, hit my daughter on her head, blood oozed. At this time, it was better to kill me. I shouted at one of the armed men. His response was hell. He went straight for my private part, tore my dress with his gun. The others ripped my dresses. I was left with my undies. My husband and my daughter started crying. Two of them dug their teeth into my breasts.
While attending a secondary school in Adamawa, I had lived with some Fulani, so I understand a few Fulani words. I started pleading, at least for my daughter. To my shock, at gun point, they removed the dress of my little girl, one of them carried her on his head as my baby struggled, shouting “Daddy, mummy, what’s going on. Help me.”
I could not help myself. We were marched for 9 hours. I was half naked. My daughter was totally naked. A felt her tears was like a stream of blood on her cheek. Our phones had been seized. We ended up in an ungoverned region in the thick of the forest. We met a well organized group.
There were some kidnapped victims, I saw two women, two ladies and three men. There were some people with their legs chained to trees. They were as if half dead. We were separated. I was separated from my husband. My daughter was taken away. I only heard her scream intermittently. I did not know what they were doing to her.
These men, now about two dozen had a full kitchen, they had a huge camp and a traditional medical team. But the camps appear isolated from each other. We heard noises afar indicating it might be nuclear settlements of camps. Right in my presence, I saw them pack the remains of a woman. They took her and buried her few meters away from us. She had tribal marks.
I cannot describe the agony of 6 days in captivity in this little piece. I cannot talk about how they asked my husband to choose between myself being raped or that his daughter be raped. My husband broke down in uncontrollable tears. One of them hit him saying “Yoruba bastard, you dey cry. Idiot.”
They now gave him the option that he should be raped by one homosexual among them. My husband is a devout Muslim. He told them homosexual and rape of any kind was against Islam. They hit him with the butt of AK 47: “What do you know about Islam?”
You can imagine, you are being asked to choose between being raped by a homosexual, your daughter, just nine years old, or your wife being raped? They gave the forth option, if you fail to choose, they would rape my daughter, rape my husband and rape me.
I made myself the sacrificial lamb. My husband begged, saying they should name their price. One of them asked him to bend down. Three beastly criminals sat on his back, jumping until he was too weak to stand. I was not allowed to put on any additional cloth on my body for 24 hours. The rain fell once. I became the relic and a sexual museum for the armed men who in turn addressed me and asked questions about my financial standing. New Fulani men joined the camp. They organized military training for the new Fulani men that came, teaching them how to shoot and walk through circles of glowing fire.
We were not released until after 6 days. We had to walk the same zik-zag journey back to the main road, our eyes blindfolded. During the negotiation to pay, they said the money was not for them alone that they had to settle “those who send us”. For me, I see a thriving, organized crime supported by powerful political interests.
Now, I do not think we were released to freedom after paying a whopping 8 million Naira. I do not think we can ever be free, we can never be free, from the anguish, the psychological trauma, the nightmares we suffered, the occasional fits of our daughter, her waking up midnight behaving strangely, her asking the same question over and over: “Mummy, mummy, why?. Why.?” I do not have any answer.
In my life, I have never passed through a torture chamber like this. I do not think any society should let this happen. I do not know the fate of those we met, and about 7 other people brought during the 6 days we were in captivity. What I saw was a nation that has collapsed but pretends she lives, a people on life support. Crime is not restricted to Fulani people alone. We have Yoruba criminals. But I don’t Yoruba criminals are not as beastly. These elements are savages. I can’t imagine Yoruba thieves going to Sokoto or Maiduguri to kidnap Fulani people and keep them in their own bushes. It gives me mental torture that this is happening and some fools are even trying to justify or look for excuses.
Well, as a devout Muslim, myself and my family have taken solace in Allah, not the Nigerian police, not the Army, not the governments. We have taken our faith the way it came. I thank God that we have successfully returned to where we live, thousands of miles from Nigeria. We thank God that we have made a vow: Never shall me, any of my children or husband in our lifetime visit Nigeria. Our remains any time we die, will also not be buried in Nigeria. It was a suggestion by my daughter which we all adopted.
I pity the country. I pity her people who continuously walk like the living dead. I pity those who parade themselves as leaders, because they know nothing about what is going on and the abyss the country sunk already.
I pity Yoruba people, oh, I pity you. I pity my people. For me the issue is not about President Buhari. Democracy can produce anything, even the worst in the society.
What I worry about is the conspiracy of silence by the people themselves, the ignorance, the treachery and the illusion that one day, things will get better through another election.
Since I was born in Nigeria, each year had led from bad to worse and on and on. I do not have a solution to what is going on, but I think very soon, hell will let loose upon the earth as long as there is no law and order and anarchy and the rule of brutes is the order of the day.
Once again, there cannot be anything more comforting than my husband who saw what I went through but has been able to encourage me and even encouraged me to write this little piece after months of agony and sociological imbalance. Good night Nigerians.
The daughter of the award winning Nigeria Afropop singer launched her hair line organic hair care products.
David Adeleke aka Davido took to his Instagram page to announce his daughter’s entry into the beauty world.
Imade recently celebrated her fourth year birthday on May 19 and can be seen on a photo she posted on her business social media account holding one of her new hair care product.
Davido endorsed his daughter’s organic hair care line has elite and beautiful on his Instagram page.
The new beauty line “Aurora”was officially launched yesterday May 29, in Lekki Phase 1, Lagos and the launching was strictly by invitation.
If all things go as planned, actress Rita Dominic will walk down the aisle with her lover this December.
According to kemifilani, close source confirms that Rita Dominic’s lover, whose first name is Fidelis is a wealthy billionaire from Anambra and he is into media. He sings and dances to her tune, while also treating her like the queen herself is treated.
They were recently spotted on board in a first class cabin of an airline as they returned to Lagos from an Eastern Country where both had gone on Baecation.
In an interview months back, Rita Dominic opened up her struggle getting married.
The 43-year-old screen star said that when in a relationship, couples should at best find a way to live with each other, instead of trying to change negative traits, adding that a grown man cannot change.
She said: “I almost married someone. We were there. We were at that point. It didn’t work out and I’m happy it didn’t work out because I saw the signs.
“You know how you see the signs and you just ignore it hoping the person will change. Look, a grown man and a grown woman cannot change. They can find a way to live with each other and respect each other’s feelings, but to change a grown person is difficult.”
Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp, has named his 23-man travelling party for the Champions League final against Tottenham on Saturday night.
Klopp and his players arrived at the John Lennon Airport ahead of their trip to the Spanish capital on Friday, and there are no notable surprises among the squad.
Teenage striker, Rhian Brewster was among the squad, while Roberto Firmino, who has been struggling with a knock, has also been included.
Georginio Wijnaldum, who netted twice against Barcelona in their 4-0 win in the previous round, is another player who is set to play.
Anthony Joshua has been beaten by challenger Mexican fighter Andy Ruiz Jr in one of the biggest shocks in heavyweight boxing history.
This was the first time the former champion tasted defeat, leaving his underdog opponent to become the first ever Mexican-American heavyweight world champion.
